Under the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

, a ''pays d'états'' (, ) was a type of

généralité ''Recettes générales'', commonly known as ''généralités'' (), were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are often considered to prefigure the current '' préfectures''. At the time of the French Revolution, ther ...

, or fiscal and financial region where, in contrast to the pays d'election, an estates provincial or representative assembly of the three orders had retained its traditional role of negotiating the raising of taxes with the royal commissaires or

intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

s, dividing the tax burden by diocese and parish, and controlling tax collection. The estates also held onto part of the funds thus raised to repair and develop the roads in its province. According to

Roland Mousnier Roland Émile Mousnier (; Paris, September 7, 1907– February 8, 1993, Paris) was a French historian of the early modern period in France and of the comparative studies of different civilizations. Life Mousnier was born in Paris and receive ...

and Bernard Barbiche''Les institutions de la Monarchie française à l’époque moderne, XVIe-XVIIIe siècle'', PUF, Paris, (1999) the ''pays d'états'' were: *

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. Estates suppressed - 17th century *

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

. Estates suppressed - 15th century *

Artois Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

. Estates suppressed - 17th century *

Basse-Navarre Lower Navarre (; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; ; ) is a traditional region of the present-day French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost ''region'' of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle A ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

. Estates suppressed - 16th century *

Bigorre Bigorre (; Gascon: ''Bigòrra'') is a region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of the larger region k ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Bourgogne Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. T ...

(Burgundy). Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. * Bretagne (Brittany). Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saôn ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Cambrésis Cambrésis (, , ) is a former ''pagus'' and county of the medieval Holy Roman Empire, which constituted the Prince-Bishopric of Cambrai from the 11th to the 18th centuries. It was annexed by the Kingdom of France in 1679. It is now regarded as one ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. * Charolais. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Comminges The Comminges (; Occitan language, Occitan/Gascon language, Gascon: ''Comenge'') is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding approximately to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the departments of Fran ...

Estates suppressed - 1622 *

Corse Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately nor ...

(Corsica). Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

. Estates suppressed - 17th century * Flandre (Flanders). Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Foix Foix ( , ; ; ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the prefecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwestern France ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

. Estates suppressed - 18th century *

Gévaudan Gévaudan (; ) is a historical area of France in Lozère ''département''. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe. History After the conquest of Gaul, the Romans preserved the capital city of the Gabali, ''Anderitum'', which they ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. * Hainaut (Hainault). Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Labourd Labourd (; ; ; ) is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques '' département'' of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial component pa ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

. Estates suppressed - 15th century *

Mâconnais The Mâconnais () district is located in the south of the Burgundy wine region in France, west of the Saône river. It takes its name from the town of Mâcon. It is best known as a source of good value white wines made from the Chardonnay grape; t ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Estates suppressed - 16th century *

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

. Estates suppressed - 15th century * Marsan. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Nébouzan Nébouzan (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Nebosan'' ) was a small province of France located in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains, in the southwest of France. It was not a contiguous province, but it was made up of several detached territories ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. * Normandie (Normandy). Estates suppressed - 17th century *

Orléanais The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former province of France, which was created during the Renaissance by merging four former counties and towns. However after the French Revolution, the province was dissolved in 1791 and succeeded by five ''départ ...

. Estates suppressed - 16th century *

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; or ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is divided into f ...

. Estates suppressed - 16th century *

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Quatre-Vallées Quatre-Vallées (, literally, "Four Valleys") (Gascon language, Gascon: ''Quate-Vaths'') was a small province of France located in the southwest of France. It was made up of four constituent parts: vallée d'Aure, Aure valley (Gascon: ''Aura''), ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Quercy Quercy (; , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auverg ...

. Estates suppressed - 17th century *

Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Géva ...

. Estates suppressed - 17th century *

Soule Soule (; Basque language, Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; ) is a former viscounty and France, French Provinces of France, province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département in France, départ ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

. Estates suppressed - 16th century *

Velay Velay () is a historical area of France situated in the east Haute-Loire ''Département in France, département'' and southeast of Massif central, Massif Central. History Julius Caesar mentioned the vellavi as the subordinate of the arverni. ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789. *

Vivarais Vivarais (; ; {{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of Ardèche, named after its capital Vivier ...

. Estates suppressed - 1789.

Notes and references

See also